• Lucas Beraldo has been a standout for Brazil and PSG this year

• The centre-back is seen as one of the most promising players in his position

• His father, Andre, has been speaking to FIFA about Lucas's character and career progression

Ex-defender Andre Beraldo had a ten-year career as a professional player. During that time he ran out for one-time Brazilian champions Guarani, former Copa do Brasil winners Criciuma and popular clubs such as Santa Cruz.

He is the first to admit, however, that his career was no bed of roses. “That’s just the reality of the game," he told FIFA. "Not many players make it to the top.”

It is not surprising to learn, then, that when his sons began to take an interest in football, Beraldo and his wife, Leia, had many a conversation about it. Though they ultimately decided to give them all their support, they made sure their children focused on what they had to do off the pitch.

However, in the case of the youngest, Lucas, Beraldo Sr soon realised that getting him to switch his mind off from football would be no easy task, given his love of the game and his precocious skills. “You could see it from a very early age,” said his father.

The ability he once saw on the pitches of the town of Jau, in the centre of Sao Paulo state, is clear for the rest of the world to see, much to the delight of Luis Enrique, Lucas’ coach at Paris Saint-Germain. At the age of only 20, he has also worked his way into Brazil’s rebuilding plans.

“I’ve worked really hard to get this far. My age doesn’t come into it,” said the centre-half after spending the whole 90 minutes on the pitch on his international debut: the 1-0 defeat of England at Wembley in March. “That preparation has been crucial to me being able to enjoy a day like today.”

His father may not have had things easy, but he was good enough to play in defence at professional level. Coincidence or not, Lucas Beraldo has taken the same path, though not without consequences.

“Everyone likes to score, but he always went and stood in defence,” said Andre with a smile. “That’s what I used to do, so I started to give him tips: ‘If you’re left footed, you better start using your right. So, you’re small? You still have to learn how to head the ball.’ I’d tell him the things he needed to work on and he’d ask me if I ever worked on them myself.”

Lucas does not need much of a push these days to sharpen up his game. That calm exterior should not be seen as a sign that he is in any way complacent about what he needs to do. “He was always very relaxed on the ball, which is one of his strengths. He’s ice-cool under pressure, while I’m there shouting my head off in the stands. My oldest son [Thiago] says that I obviously just used to hit it into Row Z.”

Just because he is calmness personified on the ball does not mean to say that the youngest of the Beraldos did not need help and support on his way to the top, not least when he was playing at Red Bull Brasil. When the club’s youth set-up all but collapsed, he returned to Jau to play for Esporte Clube XV de Novembro, with his family keeping a close eye on him.

“Lucas hadn’t been there for a year when Sao Paulo came into his life and took him for a trial,” recalled Andre. “He got through the first week and stayed. That was when we realised there was no escaping it.”

Beraldo Jr made his name in the prestigious Tricolor youth ranks, impressing every coach who saw him up close. Hernan Crespo invited him to train with the first team for a few months in 2021, when he was just 17. The club’s U-20 coach at the time was former Palmeiras and Fenerbahce idol Alex de Souza, who had a big part to play in his eventual transition to the elite by recalling him.

Rogerio Ceni handed the player his first-team debut for the club when he was 18, in a Copa Sudamericana tie against Ayacucho of Peru in May 2022, after which he played three more matches that season.

“When you’re a kid, there’s no point in having a plan,” said his father. “It was very hard to get it through to him.”

Getting stronger all the time and a regular in first-team training sessions, young Lucas waited patiently until his chance came in 2023. When Rogerio Ceni’s successor, Dorival Junior, found himself contending with a rash of injuries, Beraldo was handed a starting spot and never let it go, having a big hand in Sao Paulo’s first ever Copa do Brasil win, the one trophy the club had never lifted.

Dorival Junior left Sao Paulo to become Brazil coach in January 2024, shortly after Beraldo had signed for Paris Saint-Germain in a deal that made him the most expensive defender in the history of Brazilian football.

Few clubs in Europe have to contend with the same weight of expectation as the French giants, so it would have been no surprise to see the young Brazilian take his time to adjust and prove himself. Yet when Dorival named his first squad in March, Beraldo was on it, an indication both of the coach’s faith in him and the seamless nature of the player’s transition to life at PSG.

“Who doesn’t like Beraldo?” asked Luis Enrique. “That’s the strange thing about football. You can sign an experienced 30-year-old player and they might take a year or two to settle in, but along comes Beraldo, who’s just a kid, and within just a few days he looks as if he’s been in Paris for years. It’s quite amazing and a huge surprise.”

By the time the young defender turned up for Seleção duty, two probable starters were out of the reckoning for the March friendlies away to England and then Spain: his PSG team-mate Marquinhos and Real Madrid’s Eder Militao. Dorival had no hesitation – one of their replacements in the line-up would be Beraldo.

“When he was at Sao Paulo last year, Dorival gave me the freedom to go and play my game,” said Beraldo, whose defensive partner for the England match was the hugely impressive Fabrício Bruno of Flamengo. “He spoke to me before the match and gave me the confidence to go out and relax and just enjoy myself.”

Beraldo excelled against England but had the misfortune of being nutmegged by Dani Olmo for Spain’s second goal in the 3-3 draw in Madrid a few days later. Such is life when you are a central defender. Still only at the start of his career, Beraldo has emerged as a player of rich promise as Brazil look to rebuild, with the FIFA World Cup 26™ in their sights.

Ever watchful and demanding, Andre has seen these ups and downs before.

“He’s never been scared of making a mistake,” said Beraldo Sr. “If he messes up in a game and he has to do the same thing again, he’ll go and do it. He has a very strong character and he’s very dedicated to what he does.

"You can see that at PSG. When we spend time with him over in France, he trains, comes home, eats and goes to bed early. He doesn’t need anyone to tell him what to do and he’s been like that since he was a boy.”